| Global Procurement Group Training procurement professionals for the global economy 
|
| Global Procurement Group Training procurement professionals for the global economy
|
If you want to find out what country is sending a particular product to the US, the International Trade Commission has a great search engine, the Trade DataWeb. You'll need to know the Customs (HS) code or the SIC code for the product you are researching.Free International Procurement Resources
The USITC also makes the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) available
on the web in two formats.
APEC has the tariff schedules of the
Pacific Rim countries, including the US, Mexico, and Canada,
complete with search engines.
The
University of Saarbrucken has the text of the CISG.
(This is the United Nations Convention on the International Sale
of Goods, a key legal document controlling international
purchases. But you knew that, didn't you? If not, please consider
a seminar).
Once you know the country you want to look in, one way
to find out supplier names is to contact the embassy or consulate
of that country. Here's a handy list
of phone numbers of every embassy and consulate in the US.
Lacking definition? Here's a helpful Dictionary of International Trade Terms from the US Department of Commerce.
There are several attempts to catalog suppliers by product
within a country. These are usually limited to advertisers.
Before relying on one, you should check them in a category that
you know well and see if your known suppliers are listed. For one
of the best, try
ASM's "Asian Sources On-line" .
Sacré bleu, what was a French franc worth on August 18, 1998? OandA.com has a currency converter with both current and past exchange rates for most currencies.
What time is it there? Are they on summer or winter time?
Use Time and Date's World Clock
before that
early-morning or late night phone call.
Free General Purchasing Resources on the Internet
For current events, check the Purchasing site at About.com
For general purchasing issues, try the resource lists at the following sites:
For those interested in electronics, Electronic Buyer's News has a good on-line site: EBNOnline.
International Business Resources on the Internet
The Federation of International Trade Associations (FITA) has a great list of
trade resources.
Links to other useful commercial sites
For seminars on international purchasing or other purchasing topics: Law, basic purchasing, or electronics and blueprint reading for buyers, contact Global Procurement Group's marketing partner: Nahabit and Associates.
For consulting and seminars on procurement cards, check out CPR Consulting Group.
For an extremely professional purchasing newsletter, check out Supplier Selection and Management Report.
Need legal advice? Looking for entertaining and well
written articles on international trade law issues? Try www.exportimportlaw.com.
Their quizzes are both fun and humbling.
Need some source inspection? (A good practice for the first
few shipments.) Check out AMREP inspection
services. They will also do thorough analysis of potential
suppliers' quality systems and practices. AMREP has offices
around the world. Worldtariff
has
tariff schedules for all the major countries, including
information enabling you to determine eligibility for
duty-exemption plans. This one isn't free, but they will allow
free sampling.
Looking at eSourcing packages? If you use
them internationally, be sure that the system allows you to treat different
suppliers differently. Your foreign suppliers should get different contract
terms, different terms of purchase and possibly be asked to bill in
different currencies than your domestic suppliers. EC
Sourcing group understands this. Check them out.